If James Had His Wand
by emily4498
Summary: What if James Potter had his wand with him the night Voldemort attacked the Potters' house that fateful Halloween night?


**If James Had His Wand**

 _Enjoy._

"Take Harry and run!" James shouted as the front door exploded inwards.

"James!" Lily screamed, clutching Harry to her chest with one arm and her other wrapped around James's waist.

"Avada—!"

They did not hear the rest of the incantation as they vanished from the house and appeared the headquarters of the Order with a loud crack. James pulled Lily through the doors as the trainees swarmed out. "Code B," he announced and vanished with a quieter crack, appearing where the door of his house used to be.

"You!" Voldemort shouted.

James laid his hand flat on the remnants of the wall, activating the dormant wards. "No one can get in, and no one can get out. It's just you and me, Voldemort." James spat the last name out angrily, his fingers tightening around his wand.

"Your wards will die with you, Potter, you cannot win."

"Expelliarmus."

Voldemort deflected the spell lazily. "Crucio."

James was too slow to avoid the Unforgiveable. He screamed and writhed on the ground as Order members appeared around the house, only able to watch as the spell ended and James forced himself back to his feet. The spectators jerked backwards as Fiendfyre erupted from James's wand and started to eat away at the walls around him. With a dismissive wave, Voldemort neutralized the fire, sending James shuffling backwards. The real duel began. For every five curses he deflected or countered, James barely managed one of his own.

"Give it up _boy_ , you cannot win!" Voldemort laughed as James barely avoided a massive cutting curse.

"I already removed your target. Whether I win or lose this duel, I've already foiled your original plan. Magic isn't the only way to win."

Voldemort snarled and fired off a lightning fast volley of spells. James ducked and rolled forward, casting three wordless spells from three different angles almost simultaneously. Voldemort manages to block them with ease, smirking before James's fist connected with his face. With a martial arts trick he managed to copy from and unfortunate encounter with the muggle police years before, James caught Voldemort's wand arm and twisted it behind his back, slamming the corrupted man facedown on the ground before snatching the wand from his hand and deliberately snapping it. Voldemort snarled and rolled to his back while James backed away, holding the broken wand in one hand and his own pointed threateningly at Voldemort.

A silent transfiguration spell later and Voldemort was nothing more than a human-shaped pile of dust. The wards fell and Sirius was the first to leap over the pathetic remnants of the wall, followed closely by Dumbledore. "I told you I could stop him, Professor," James held out the broken wand, swaying slightly.

"Yes, you did." Dumbledore pocketed the broken wand and crouched beside the dust prodding it with his wand before siphoning it into a conjured jar.

"Are Lily and Harry fine?"

"Lily is a little shaken, but otherwise nothing's wrong," Sirius answered.

"Then let's go celebrate, Padfoot," James tossed an arm around his best mate and apparated away.

They reappeared just outside the Order's headquarters. A blur of red slammed into his chest, knocking the breath out of him and sending James to the ground. A quick cushioning charm from Sirius prevented any bruises and concussions

Sirius froze suddenly. "Where's Remus?"

"Guarding Hogwarts."

Dumbledore appeared silently out of nowhere. "Mr. Potter, the Ministry would like to speak with you."

"Why would the Ministry want to talk to little Harry?" James asked, smirking while Lily helped him back to his feet.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Mr. Potter."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Old Voldy kicked the bucket. Now is the best time for jokes."

Dumbledore studied Sirius for a moment before refocusing on James.

"Fine," James sighed. "What time?"

"Now."

"Okay."

"Prepare for the press."

"On second thought, I have some leftover Polyjuice Potion for Sirius."

"What happened to the arrogant Quidditch Captain who would do anything for the limelight?" Lily teased.

"Quidditch is different. People don't really want to kill me for winning a game."

"Sure," Sirius responded sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

"A Quidditch Star doesn't get marked for death by your dear cousin, Padfoot."

"Shut up."

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore inserted impatiently.

"Yes, Professor," James smirked and swaggered forward. Dumbledore laid a hand on James's shoulder and apparated them both to the atrium of the Ministry.

James flicked a beetle off his sleeve as Dumbledore guided him towards the dilapidated security line. Barty Crouch pushed his way through, grabbed James by the elbow and tugged him towards the heart of the building. Press clamored just beyond security, shouting their questions at the trio while Crouch shouldered his way through.

With more than a little annoyance, James found himself standing before the Wizengamont. When Dumbledore had taken his seat, the session began.

"Did you kill You-Know-Who?" Barty Crouch demanded.

"No," James answered, smirking.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore scolded. "Please answer the spirit of the question."

"But Professor—"

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall snapped.

James straightened.

"I did not kill him; I transfigured him into a pile of dust. Professor Dumbledore has the dust contained in a jar, I can transfigure him back and prove it if you would like."

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall snapped, silencing the room before the panic could rage out of control. "Act like an adult, young man," the Transfiguration teacher scolded.

"Yes, Mum."

"Mr. Potter!" She snapped.

"How many points do you think a full, reversible, and silent transfiguration of a person would earn?"

"As I recall turning your friends into animals lost you points."

James ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "Yeah, about that, I have something important to tell you later."

Crouch cleared his throat. "Are you sure of his claim, Mr. Dumbledore? Potter was a notorious prankster in his school days and he graduated only a handful of years ago."

"Hey! You can't prove anything!" James protested.

"Neither can you!"

"I can reverse the transfiguration if you want proof!"

"Please do!"

"Not here!" Dumbledore inturrupted. "I witnessed Mr. Potter transfigure Voldemort into the dust inside this jar. Have you received the answers you require?"

"How did you manage to defeat You-Know-Who when everyone else has died?" Another person demanded.

James ran his hand through his hair nervously, drawing the rapt attention of the entire room. "Well, Old Voldy had a lightning-fast wand and not all his spells were verbal, plus his curses were pretty nasty, you know, mutilation, beheading, venomous snakes, turning your skin inside out, that sort of thing, very painful if they hit. A strong enough shield charm can deflect most of them if you use it right. Then there was the Unforgivables. Nasty things. An advanced version of the shield charm can slow them down enough to get out of the way, but—"

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Anyways, I barely got any of my favorite hexes off. Either way, his offense was the best defense, I couldn't do a thing. So I punched him and did that thingy the muggle police did when— I shouldn't finish that sentence. I broke his wand and gave the vile thing to Dumbledore. After that, Old Voldy really had nothing else he could do because he didn't brush up on muggle fighting techniques like most crazies. I had a wand, he didn't, so I transfigured him. Probably should've killed him, but I really didn't want to get into trouble for using an Unforgivable so I just transfigured him so I could fix it if you guys decided to get picky about the definition of self-defense. Sirius and Dumbledore came in and then I left before anyone else showed up. Is that all? I have a wife and son I would like to celebrate my newfound freedom with."

Dumbledore nodded once and James took the opportunity to apparate back to Lily's side. She leaned into him as the assembled Order members cheered.

All would be well.

 _I feel as if it would ruin this if I continued the story. I leave the rest to your imagination._


End file.
